Des News: "Why Strong Mormon Women Stay in the Church"

[Not Buying It]

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8656 ... hurch.html

So is the implication that women who don't stay in the Church aren't strong?

I stay because I know — have always known — that there is greatness in me. And through the gift of the Holy Ghost, through yes, I have learned what that greatness is. That in addition to the transcendent gifts I already possess, there is more inside of me that is just beyond my reach. Present but hidden. Real, powerful, essential and necessary, but veiled. Something new and great that builds on the greatness I already have the privilege to exercise. By the power of yes, I see not subjugation but preparation and the promise of more to come.

So all you women who have left the Church - you suck. You should have known - always known - there was greatness in you. Through the gifts of the Holy Ghost you could have known what that greatness is, that there is more inside of you just beyond your reach. You shouldn't have seen subjugation but preparation of the promise of more to come.

So, yeah, you women who left the Church are weak, and should have been strong like Eva Witesman. Losers.

/snark. I need to go puke now.

[Red Ryder]

/snark. I need to go puke now.

I'll hold your hair back.

Here's the root of the problem.

This article from Eva Witesman is part of an ongoing Deseret News opinion series exploring ideas and issues at the intersection of faith and thought.

Within Mormonism, there is no intersection of faith and thought. The thinking has been done for you. Especially with gender roles designed to make every women a mother. Yes there are strong women who leave the church. Yes there are strong women who stay in the church. The only important difference to distinguish between is the amount of extra strength needed to continue staying in an organization that promotes submissive gender roles, eternal polygamy, and an attitude of unimportance for not owning a priesthood antennae (see penis in the bible dictionary).

Does Eva even realize that strong women in the church are only there to serve an organization run by men?

She should step out of the intersection of faith and thought before she gets hit by the church bus full of men.

[oliver_denom]

This gives me an idea for some Op-Eds of my own:

"Why obedient members are really the most free"

"Why attractive people don't have doubts."

and finally...

"How attending all three hours proves you have an extremely large penis"

[Not Buying It]

Within Mormonism, there is no intersection of faith and thought. The thinking has been done for you. Especially with gender roles designed to make every women a mother. Yes there are strong women who leave the church. Yes there are strong women who stay in the church. The only important difference to distinguish between is the amount of extra strength needed to continue staying in an organization that promotes submissive gender roles, eternal polygamy, and an attitude of unimportance for not owning a priesthood antennae (see penis in the bible dictionary).

This is a good point. Does it take a strong person to stay in an organization whose claims are demonstrably false? I suppose a person could make that argument. Does Linus have to be strong to stay in the pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin while other kids are out trick-or-treating? Yeah, sure. Do I admire him for it? Absolutely not. Linus is a fool, and Sally is a fool for following him. A person can be strong and still be tragically mistaken.

Being strong while being wrong isn't something I actually admire all that much.

[moksha]

Perhaps there is a sadism/masochism relationship going on. Strong women might secretly crave to be disempowered as during their stay on earth and in the eternities. "Yeah baby, only the strong will stick around and make sammiches for us Gods on Celestial Superbowl Weekend."

[MerrieMiss]

Nowhere have I ever felt more stupid than at church, and this article does the same for me.

I don't get it. It's a lot of words that essentially say nothing. I don't know what "strong women" are. I don't know who she is and why I should care. I don't know anything about her challenges, or what being "strong" means. I don't know what being weak means either, except it's people who are presumably not like her (whoever or whatever she is). I don't know why it matters that she is a woman and not a man. It's a lot of words thrown around without saying anything specific at all. It's incredibly vague. Except she knows the unknowable. She did make that clear.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

So in summary: "I stay because I'm so awesomely awesome"

[LaMachina]

I was born knowing — knowing — that there was divinity in me. In the words of Sheri Dew, I was born for glory. We all were. I saw it in my mother, my grandmother, my sister. I think this is at the core of every strong woman: This knowing. This fire. This sense of eternal destiny. This greatness.

Sheesh. And atheists get accused of arrogance and pride...

[Thoughtful]

The most frustrating bit here is that she gave a gastric devotional recently at BYU on women having careers and getting higher ed...

[Korihor]

I didn't read the article. I someone link to it elsewhere. I just Can't torture myself to read it. The quotes alone that people have posted are too much.

[Corsair]

It's labelled as "Op-Ed", but it's presented to sound suspiciously like Sunday School Doctrine. But it still ends up just being propaganda that would not stand up to scrutiny.

[Snowdrop]

Nowhere in this article does she actually define what makes a woman strong - much less give a legitimate reason to stay other than needing a (male) god to give answers about life... but only if you ask for those answers in a "yes/no" format!